A low point for the now 64-year-old manager came when he imposed a routine fine on Wright-Phillips for being booked for dissent.

“Wright-Phillips was informed of his fine by letter, which is the procedure,” Warnock writes in his new book, The Gaffer.

“Instead of seeing me, knocking on the door, and complaining, he Sellotaped the letter on to his back at training in front of all the players, treating it like a joke.

“It was a lack of respect and I was disappointed with that and I told him so.

“That was the moment that I realised just how difficult it was for managers in the modern day to discipline players with such big egos, on such big wages.

“That was one of the most disappointing mornings for me at QPR. Inside I was disgusted with Shaun yet to him it was a joke.

“I kept thinking I was the manager that got him out of the hell of Man City when no one else would touch him, gave him a cracking contract, brought him back to his home in London and then was treated with such contempt.